Message Board - Cricket: red thread and lack of growth
9 Mar 2010 by barry glynn
Mr.Paranoia here again. I have quite a lot of red thread after all the cold wet weather and heavy frosts. I was going to put on some feed today. I only have some 7-7-7 growmore or some spring/summer fert at my disposal. I was going to put on the spring/summer. temps are currently up a bit overnight and should stay the same for this week.
I am concerned about the growth and coverage too.
Thoughts please.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
9 Mar 2010 by Andy Matthews
I have the same problems on a couple of the wickets on my square Barry, the ones that were used last and then suffered the Autumn drought, I did put a seaweed spray on last Friday to try and liven things up, but I think the red thread will only really dissapear when the growth kicks in as it has to grow out and it's only asthetic with red thread, there shouldn't be any sign by the start of the season. I was going to leave it untill at least the start of April and try and get as much psr done as possible before overseeding any weak areas, it's frustrating but just wait and the warmer weather will come, thats my thoughts others may dissagree.
9 Mar 2010 by pacman75cricket
Barry i would be tempted to leave the fertilizer a little until the temperature starts to aid growth, maybe worth applying some sugars to help.
9 Mar 2010 by barry glynn
Pacman
Never used sugars. What form is it in etc? What is its purpose?
I know what you mean Andy, just got a gut feeling its needs something.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
9 Mar 2010 by Andy Matthews
Thats why I put the seaweed on mine on Friday, the forcast said there wasn't going to any frost Friday night and there wasn't and we got some gentle drizzle Saturday morning, so I am hoping that it will just get things started as the temp rises this week, I only had to use 250gr out of a 2kilo tub and I got that for free so I haven't chucked any money away really, once things really get started I will either give it another dose or go straight to the spring feed, something like the seaweed I used dissolved and sprayed on may just give it the boost it needs, I will see how it goes.
9 Mar 2010 by pacman75cricket
Barry,
Mollasses got mine from pet supplies used in horse feed & sprayed sorry cant remember rate at the moment.
Think mario has sprayed beer for same purpose.
9 Mar 2010 by jontaylor
Barry,
I'm still a bit of a sceptic on sugars but I have sprayed them twice so far this year and the square is looking better since spraying (early and late February).
Horse supplies store - I pay about £7 for 5 litres and spray half of that diluted in about 15L water. Look for molasses, but look for the runnier type. The viscous type can be difficult to mix in.
I also sprayed last weekend with iron solution to which I had added some ammonium sulphate (left over from last year). 5kg iron sulphate and 3kg ammonium sulphate disolved in 30L acidified water and sprayed across the whole square. The iron for moss, the ammonium as a tickle to get things going.
The red thread damage is going.
The ciderman rolls
9 Mar 2010 by mario
Yep, I use beer 'cos it's free from the drip trays/slop trays in our bars.
I tend to ask the staff to put aside the brown beer dregs as it is slightly higher in carbohydrates.
I'm using 10 litres in 50 litres of water to cover my 14 pitches and backing this up with 2 litres of iron and 6 litres of 5-4-20.
In essence, and using my Farmura pedestrian boom sprayer, 5 of beer, 1 of iron, 3 of fertiliser topped up to 25 litres times 2 fills for the entire square of approximately 1000 square metres.
I know no boundaries.
9 Mar 2010 by Richardb
just out of interest what soil temperature should we be looking for before applying fertiliser and doing any overseeding
9 Mar 2010 by barry glynn
Hi Guys
Tanks for the advice but I dont have anything to spray with so its just micro granular for me Im afraid. Well rightly or wrongly, I gave it a good brush them put on some 14-4-14 with a touch of magnesium in it. Hopefully a bit of drizzle in the early hlurs to wash it in.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
9 Mar 2010 by barry glynn
Richard
About 5 c or above before fert going on and 8c or above for seed is about accepted norm minimums I think.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
9 Mar 2010 by jlawrence
I prefer to see above 5 deg before applying any N - don't want to kick start growth when the temps aren't there to support it. Also (imho) if you provide too much leaf nutrient then the leaf will grow instead of the roots. spring is the best time for big root growth so don't apply too much fert to the surface or the plant will have no reason to grow the roots as food will be too easy to find around the surface - that's what I think anyway.
The temp for gettiong germination will depend a lot on what mix you're using - bar extreme seems to germinate fine so long as temps stay above 3 degs.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
9 Mar 2010 by barry glynn
Well Jon, I just think mine needed a feed but I could be wrong of course. There certainly is more red thread than last year and the soil temp here is now about 6.5 this afternoon with no frost forecast for next few days at night.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
9 Mar 2010 by jlawrence
same here Barry. If things remain warmer tonight I'll be looking to get a feed on tomorrow and perhaps even get the roller out on thurs/fri.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
9 Mar 2010 by barry glynn
Got to cut mine first, probably saturday, should have my square mower back then. So hopefully psr next week
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
9 Mar 2010 by Brian Robinson
l cut my square today there were two patches of snow mould these should grow out l put on scotts invigorator 4- 0 - 8 +4percent iron +3%magnesium+seaweed this hopefully will give it a boost and harden the sward low in nitrogen so there isnt a flush of growth
9 Mar 2010 by Philmort
Having renovated in mid-september, a decent covering achieved before the ravages of the winter. It looks very washed out and frosted, understandably, though no hurry to start feeding before there is going to be some real benefit in uptake with overnight as well as daytime warmth. It'll soon catch up !
Proud to serve grassroots cricket
9 Mar 2010 by barry glynn
Yeah Phil
I may have panicked a bit but cant see it doing a lot of harm. Mine was looking good as well in November but I think everyone has suffered to some degree with the s*it winter we ve had. Just hope for an April like last year eh?
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
9 Mar 2010 by paul kelsey
Barry
It looks different again once its cut greens up nicely
9 Mar 2010 by barry glynn
Always looks better when cut. Wont be doing that to at least weekend myself
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
9 Mar 2010 by paul kelsey
Gonna rain all weekend mate
9 Mar 2010 by barry glynn
Not according to my forecasts mate!
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
10 Mar 2010 by jontaylor
If you're at the ground all week then perhaps you can time things with soil temp. As a working volunteer, I have to plan around weekends at this time of year. So if I leave too many tasks to the optimum time I won't have enough hours to do everything. For millenia grass seed has naturally survived through winters. It will germinate faster if applied when the soil is warm and damp, but it will germinate sooner if, like me, you applied it a week or two early with an eye to the weather warming up (temps in double figures forecast for this weekend). In addition, seed sown before PSR starts has the added benefit of being rolled into the surface fluff that is formed by frost. This seed gets half burried by the first roll - seed sown after the first roll still gets pressed in, but I think to a lesser extent.
Same with feeding. We happily recommend autumn/winter feed - so what's wrong with a light feed in early March? Again, with the long-term forecast in mind I applied a very light N feed last week along with iron. This was to tickle the grass into more growth. I am a firm believer that rolling on a thin grass cover does more damage than if the grass is strong, so I encourage some top growth at the start of PSR.
But this is so much a personal methods thing - there is no single right or wrong.
The ciderman rolls
11 Mar 2010 by IGS
Hello,
"Food for Thought (and subterranean microscopic life forms)"
Here is a picture of a cricket square taken on the 5th Feb this year.
it has not had any 'fertiliser' only the microbes have been fed including small amounts of the right type of nitrogen to balance with the liable carbon in the rootzone.
No mowing was undertaken from November to this week – no frost damage, healthy leaves catching what little sun there has been and looking OK
Some rolling will begin (about 5 days pre-rolling only) sometime soon – no rush!
removing blinkers
12 Mar 2010 by barry glynn
Are you saying you have put something on it or not?
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
12 Mar 2010 by IGS
it has been fed with a microbial nutriment on a monthly basis and as you can see the sprayers wheel marks.
No fertiliser with the exception of a small amonut of organic-N in the tank mix
There are some lighter coloured grass which is on the last tracks to be used late last autumn.
12 Mar 2010 by wicketdevil Last edited 12 Mar 2010
Snow again here this morning so no work on the squares again but i will hopefully get on them next week. Still no grass growth but meant to be warmer this weekend so fingers crossed. Ian
Can you just is the longest sentence in the world !!!!!!!
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